The transcript of remarks from Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor and publisher Roger Oglesby, delivered to the P-I newsroom Monday morning:
Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.Tonight we’ll be putting the paper to bed for the last time. But the bloodline will live on.
Hearst is announcing today that the P-I will become an online-only news operation. The last print edition will appear tomorrow.
We have copies of the press release for you, as well as a letter from (The Hearst Corp. CEO) Frank Bennack and (Hearst Newspapers President) Steve Swartz. But first I have just a couple of things to say.
This is a hard day for all of us. We were fortunate to be part of a great newspaper with a great tradition, and we’ve been blessed to be part of a wonderful group of talented people. We all hate to see that end.
But we knew it was coming. Hearst fought for years to keep this place going, but time and these rotten economic conditions finally caught up with us.
But there’s another part to the story, and I’m not going to let you forget it. It’s the part that has to do with what will live on and who’s responsible for it. Tomorrow, SeattlePI.com will be reborn, outside the JOA. It will continue, and it will thrive, and it will be a strong and vital voice of this city for years to come.
Some of you will part of that ongoing effort, and you have an exciting road ahead of you. But we should all remember that everybody at this paper helped to build SeattlePI.com and the foundation on which its future will rest. Every one of you, everyone at this paper, should take pride in that. I will, and you should, too.
As for the paper, tonight will be the final run. So let’s do it right. This is a great newspaper and has been for a long time. Let’s show the world it still is. Let’s show them what we can do, one more time.
